Also, check both the brightness and contrast settings on the projector. Make sure you test your presentation on the projector to alleviate any color visibility issues ahead of time. For example, if you’re working with a line graph, use line thickness and pattern, in addition to color, to help define the different lines.įinally, most projectors seem to wash out the projected image. So don’t rely solely on color to get your point across. Remember that subtle color changes simply get lost on most projectors, and an estimated 1 out of 12 men has some type of color perception problem. If you’re tired of the oh-so-common blue background with white text, check for some interesting readability information, and perhaps some inspiration for different background-text combinations. Be careful with white and very light backgrounds, though-staring at too much glaring expanse of white tends to give people headaches. Use dark backgrounds with light text or vice versa. It may look fine on your monitor, but you will likely cause your audience consternation as they squint to read your slides. Likewise, avoid dark font colors on dark backgrounds and fills. THE FIX: Never use white text on yellow fills. THE ANNOYANCE: I had to design a new organizational chart using our company colors and ended up with white text on a yellow background. When you finish the presentation, make sure you restore your original monitor settings.
Once you find it, click the Apply button, and then click OK to get back to your presentation. You’re looking for an option to switch the “Primary” and “Secondary” output. Click the Settings tab, and then click the Advanced button. To change your monitor, right-click your desktop and select Properties. This will make the LCD projector the primary monitor, which means you will see the black box on your laptop screen, but your audience will see the video. Hold down the Fn button and press the appropriate F key to toggle the laptop display (see “Image Doesn’t Show on Projector”).īecause the video plays on the primary monitor (the laptop), but not on the secondary monitor (the LCD projector), you can try changing your primary monitor in Windows. The most reliable resolution is to toggle the laptop display so that it shows only on the projector.
THE FIX: You’re not doing anything wrong this is an issue with the combination of hardware and software you’re using: the video card, the video driver, the video itself, and PowerPoint. THE ANNOYANCE: No matter what I do, I can’t get this video to play on the projector and laptop at the same time it will only play on the laptop.